1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a program capable of providing proper information such as advice and solutions to products that need maintenance or have problems.
2. Description of Related Art
Products, for example, automobiles must receive regular inspections including compulsory inspections. Inspections other than the compulsory inspections are usually carried out by the users according to manuals. Related arts that help the users carry out inspections have some problems.
The users frequently forget to regularly conduct inspections. If no regular inspections are carried out, the products may easily suffer trouble and thus, have a shorter service lives. When carrying out inspections according to manuals, the users may encounter problems such as understanding the manuals and how to conduct the inspections.
If a product causes a problem, the user may call a service center for advice. Talking on the telephone, however, is usually insufficient for the service center to correctly identify the cause of the problem. In this case, the user must send or carry the product to the service center and must wait for several days or weeks until the product is inspected, repaired, and returned to the user.
If the user does not send or take the problematic product to the service center, the manufacturer of the product will be unable to obtain proper information about the problem of the product, and therefore, will be unable to utilize this information for improving the product or developing a new product.